reflections on the "end of the event" and narrative structure

[henrythemad]

Your typical Alliance event ends on an upswing. Or a definitive downswing. Some form of resolution. A catharsis - a point where you can clearly define that part of the story has ended, and the next part has begun. In my opinion, to do otherwise is essentially rude to the players who show up for one weekend - and also can be frustrating. Continually ending on a cliffhanger is why I, personally, don't read comics or watch anything less than a full season of a TV show. I find it frustrating.

"Tell a full story!!" I will futilely yell in frustrating whilst shaking my fist.

Our game is nicely defined into 3 acts per year, and 3 years. We are approaching the storytelling with that in mind. We want to end on a catharsis for the players each event - it's a formula without which people can walk away from the event saying "yes, it was cool, but what *actually* happened? What did we, collectively, accomplish?"

This event we could not end on a clearly defined note for one of the two main arcs and a somewhat muddled end for the other arc. This was because we are taking the time to setup the entire three year trilogy. One could argue that the inspection by the Emperor was the main (political) arc of the weekend with the Troll War as a secondary (monster) arc. We found out about the Emperor's visit Friday, he missed dinner on Saturday prompting speculation, and the catharsis was that he is actually missing (discovered Sunday) - a little muddled and buried but present. We heard about the Frostfang Trolls on Friday, we took out one of their camps on Saturday and fought them to a standstill on Saturday night, and on Sunday one would expect narratively that they would either be driven out of the area or we would find out about some horrible thing that made them stronger (the confirmation of the Cauldron, perhaps?).

I feel that the Troll arc did not have such a successful arc - Saturday's two battles setup how many spawn points there would be for Saturday night. Trolls spawned at two points on the field, rather than three due to the success of one of the battles. IG there was planned to be a "final push" on Sunday which we knew would be ignored by the development of the Emperor's disappearance. Still, though, the Trolls did not have any sort of definitive transition- they are still in the same state that they were at the start of the event - and this is the sort of thing that keeps me up at night.

To that end, please participate in this poll!

 

[aara]

I don't know how to respond to this. I was ok with the state of things ending, but I kind of wanted a fight that was the downside for me of it. I don't need resolution or good/bad but I guess having not played in a billion years I wanted to fight with a non-shattered shield for a bit.
If that makes sense.

 

[henrythemad]

I also like having a good fight at the end of the event. Another thing that plagued me while crafting this. : )

 

[Lord Jonothan]

Honestly i like difference, if the game gets to be predictable it gets boring and while some sort of formula is neccesary i always approve when things stop feeling formulaic, besides it was a fight just not your normal one. I tried not to go after the Kin but defended the General. It was more a war of words and emotion.

 

[Jovunn]

Let me see if I can keep my thoughts cohesive and concise.

Given this was the first event of a three-act, three-year arc, I did not expect everything to be tied up with neat bows by the end of the event. My expectation was the setting of a scene and the acquisition of a baseline understanding of its various actors (the Empire, the resistance, trolls). In that regard, I felt you and the rest of the team were successful.

Personally, I appreciated the gut-punch of the bait and switch on Sunday morning - from having to turn our sights to the Emperor's disappearance to getting to his ransacked caravan to discover a band of kin. I recognize that for folks looking for a fight, the latter may have felt anticlimactic, but I agree with all your judgement calls regarding which problem should have taken precedence - they made sense in game (when your head of state disappears, he takes priority).

I think as long as EVERY event doesn't end on a cliffhanger, you are fine. For this first event, I think it was a perfectly logical choice.

 

[Scarn]

Tell us, and let us all tell each other, a story.

If the story works best ending in a battle, great, but don't force it just because. Looking around on Sunday I didn't see too many faces looking disappointed at how it ended. There were a lot of emotions as to what's happening. Don't design every event to end like that, let the narrative tell you how the event should end.

Eric

 

[John]

As with most events, Me and my character often have different opinions on events. Koba was sure irritated that what he thought was a troll hunt ended up a royal rescue mission executed in vain. I, on the other hand, was actually excited that I had something ton try to use a IBGA on. Like Eric and Kris said, If the story dictated that it is left hanging then that is what has to happen. Cliff hangers are OK as long as they don't become a crutch. Don't worry Henry, you Ladies and Gents are doing just fine.